Development of methods for running and long jumping biomechanics analyses in elite Paralympic athletes

Sport activity can be beneficial for all aspects of life, from physical to mental health, whatever level it is practiced. Sport promotes social integration, both for able-bodied people and, even more so, for people with disabilities. Therefore, it could be essential to understand how the sport gesture is performed, in order to ensure the athletes’ safety. In case of athletes with lower limb amputations, research is ongoing to investigate new technologies that could be used to mimic the lost anatomical limb. In this perspective, the Department of Industrial Engineering (DII) of the University of Padova and INAIL (Italian National Institute for Insurance against Accidents at Work) carried out a collaboration whose aim was to study new technologies at the service of elite Paralympic athletes during sprinting and long jumping activities. Nine athletes from the Italian Paralympic team were involved in this study. They were transfemoral and transtibial unilateral amputee athletes competing in the 100 m, 200 m and long jump events. It is well known that lower-limb amputation leads to an asymmetry between limbs. The study of the biomechanical parameters could therefore provide a better understanding of the compensatory strategies that athletes with amputations use to replace the loss of the anatomical limb. The aim of this work was the development of instrumentation and methods to collect and analyse data for a better understanding of running and long jumping biomechanics. The purpose of all these analyses is to gain a better comprehension of how different Running Specific Prosthesis (RSP) affect the biomechanics of running and long jumping. Significant time was spent to develop a 3D motion capture protocol to be used for unilateral transfemoral and transtibial amputee athletes. In addition, the protocol could be adjusted to be used also for able-bodied and bilateral lower-limb amputee athletes. Furthermore, effort was made to implement the spring-mass model in case of lower-limb amputation with reference to the study of Liew et al. (2017). Finally, different software packages were developed to perform biomechanical analyses. The biomechanical tool allows standard and more specific analysis to be performed. Several sprinting and long jumping test sessions were collected in an indoor field track using nine force platforms and ten optoelectronic cameras. During the tests, athletes changed different socket alignments and Running Prosthetic Feet (RPF) varying the stiffness category or the RPF model. Analysis of data collection was performed. However, the results are preliminary, as the data collection was intended to assess reliability of these methods and the athletes‘ Olympic preparation, rather than a full insight into RSPs’ effects on biomechanics. To conclude, the developed methods represent the starting point for further analysis regarding the effects of different Running Specific Prosthesis on running and long jumping biomechanics.